Golf instruction harness



Dec. 18, 1962 J. A. TOPPING cow INSTRUCTION HARNESS Filed April 15, 1959 United States Patent ()fltice Fatentecl iP ec. 18, 1962 sesame GOLF INSTRUQTIGN HARNESS John A. Topping, 32 Elm St, Norwaik, Conn. Filed Apr. 15, 199,Ser.No. 806,646 5 tliaims. (Cl. 273-189) I a This invention relates to golf devices and, more particuiarly, to a golf aid or sling which helps to insure that the golfer will swing a golf club properly when hitting the ball.

in order for a golfer to execute a proper golf swing, good coordination of the various parts of the body must be maintained so that the direction of the flight of the hall may be controlled. If the direction of the ball is not controlled, the average golfer loses much of his enthusiasm for golf, as well as most of the enjoyment and relaxation which should be obtained from the game.

in hitting a golf ball, the golfer stands to one side of the ball in reference to a theoretical line drawn between the at-rest position-of the golf ball and the location of the hole or spot for which the player is shooting. Most golfers stand on the left side of this theoretical line; i.e., left when looking towards the hole, and, therefore, the left arm (which is the arm closest to the hole) is considered for the purposes of orientation and identification in this specification to be the leading arm and the right arm is considered to he the trailing arm. Of course, if the golfer were to stand on the right side of thistheoretical line then the reverse definitions would be applied.

Usually a person addresses a golf ball with a square stance, but it matters little for the purposes of the present invention how the ball is addressed as long as the swing is controlled. In order to control a golf swing all the necessary body movements must be made in a coordinated and smooth manner. This means that during the swing the; golfer must coordinate his arms, legs, hands, etc. at all times, and especiallyduring the down swing, so that the proper movement occurs at the correct time.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a golf aid or sling which will help the golfer to coordinate all the movements of his body when hitting the ball. It, is another object of the present invention to provide, a golf aid which may be used as a practice or teaching device, to develop habits of proper coordination. A further object of the present invention is to provide a golf aid which is economical to manufacture and convenient for the golfer to carry on his person. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a golf aid in the form of aslingdevice which may be adjusted to fit any golfer. A further object of the present invention is to provide a golf sling which is flexible and does not. discomfort the user.,

Although in the accompanying drawings, a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown and the same is described in detail in this psecification it is to be understood that this disclosure is not intended to be either exhaustive or limiting of the invention, but, on the contrary, the illustrated and described embodiment is chosen in order that others skilled in the art may so fully understand the invention, its principles and the application thereof, that they may embody it and adapt it in numerous forms, each as may be best suited to the requirements of the particular use.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a front view of a golfer, wearing a golf sling which is in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged perspective view of one embodiment of the golf sling worn by the golfer in FIG- URE l; and,

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view along lines 33 of FIGURE 2.

Referring to the drawings and to FIGURE 1 in particular, a golfer it is shown addressing a ball 12 prior to hitting it with a club 14. It will be noted that the illustrated golfer it) is standing on the left side of the ball in reference to a theoretical line from the ball to the hole and in the direction of the arrow 16. in FIGURE 1 the golfers left arm 13 is considered to be the leading arm and his right arm 2th is considered to be the trailing arm in accordance with the definitions set forth previously.

Attached to the golfers trailing arm is a golf sling 22 in accordance with the present invention. One end of this sling 22 is attached to the arm at a point above the golfers elbow and the other end is attached to his belt (or otherwise to some selected point at the golfers waist) on his leading side. As shown in greater detail in PEGURE 2, the illustrated golf sling 22 comprises an adiustable arm band 24, a flexible cable 26 and a slip connection 27 at one end and anchoring means 28 at the other end. A non-slip belt 3d with an adjustable buckle be provided. If this belt Stl is used the anchoring means 23 is advantageously attached to it.

The arm band 2% is made of a flexible material, such as a woven textile, a plastic material, leather, etc.

The arm band 24 has a loop 32 attached at one end and the other end is adapted to be folded back as a fastening tab 34. In applying the band 24 to the arm of the golfer, the tab 34 is inserted through the loop 32. A

series'of mating snap fasteners 36 (e.g., standing glove fasteners) are attached to the tab 34 and the overlaid part of the band. At least two of these mating fasteners as are engaged to hold the arm band in position embrac- T ing the golfers arm. Other adjustable belt fastenings can be used instead of the fasteners 36 e.g. well known bucldes with tongue and holes or with a sliding sawtoo h buckle, etc., or the armband may be made of stretchable elastic material and formed into a closed loop which is slipped over the arm.

In the illustration of FIGURES 2 and 3 the flexible arm band 24 is passed through the slip connection 27 which comprises a ring 38 connected by a swivel 4t) to a clamp 42. The clamp 42 is of the bias action type and it is closed about a flexible cable 26. The cable 26 is preferably made of an elastomeric material such as rubber, so that there will be some give in the cable 26 hen the golf sling 22 is used by a golfer. The other end. of the cable 26 is connected to a clamp 44. This clamp 44 is linked to a snap hook -26 which is attached to the anchoring means 28 which is in the form of a clamp. This anchoring clamp 23' is also of the bias action type and it is attached to the belt 39. The belt 3h is preferably of the non-skid type, that is, it may have attached to its inner surface a series of slight mounds or ridges of rubber or other high friction material and, thus, prevent the belt 30 from slipping when a force is exerted on the anchoring means 28 by the cable 26 during the golfers swing.

In actual use the golfer places the arm band 24 about the upper portion of his trailing arm 2t and then adjusts the band 24 so that it fits snugly, but not too tightly, about his arm. To insure a proper fit for each golfer a series of spaced fasteners as are advantageously provided. With the arm band 24 in place, the cable 26 is then extended across the golfers body and the anchoring clamp 28 clipped to a belt, such as the non-slip belt 30, or other suitable material. Th affixed anchoring clamp is located on the leading or left side of the golfers body and approximately at his waist.

In actual use, the golf sling serves to train a person to groove the various motions that must be gone through in order to have a good golf swing. After the golfer has properly adjusted the sling to fit him, the sling then serves to alert the golfer to false or improper movements which he may make in the course of his swing. For example, when the golfer makes a correct back swing the presence of the sling will not be very noticeable. The movement of the arms upwardly and the turning of the hips and body rearwardly if well coordinated allow scope for the sling without excessively stretching the cable. However, if the golfer should begin to move his arms upwardly or outwardly too quickly, there will be a pull on the cable which acts as a snubber and this pull serves notice that his swing has started incorrectly and that the various movements are not being coordinated; actually, the sling tends to pull his arms into the proper position. The sling also serves to hold the trailing arm 20 reasonably close to the right side of the body and slightly forward of the right hip. During the entire back swing and the turning of the golfers body from left to right (leading to trailing) the sling 22 acts to hold the right arm in a proper relationship to the body and, thus, prevents the golfer from having his arm held too far away from his body. It is very important in executing a back swing that the right elbow does not extend too far outwardly from the right side of the body. The tension on the cable 26 of the sling 22 dominates the freedom of the golfers right arm during an improper back swing and, therefore, the golfer cannot move his arm incorrectly without noticing the pull of the sling.

When the golfer has reached the top of his back swing there will be a considerable pull on the sling cable 26. This pull indicates to the golfer that he has reached the proper point and should now begin the down swing. During the down swing, the sling acts to pull the right elbow down and slightly forward and hold it in that position. In executing a proper down swing, the golfer brings his leading side and hip back to the original position that he first assumed when he was addressing the ball. As the golfers leading hip turns to that side (i.e. the left in the case of the right-handed golfer shown), the golfers right arm is guided downwardly and close to his body, and his trailing side turns toward the other side. Thus, during the down swing, the sling 22 aids the golfer to coordinate the necessary body, arms, legs and hand movements so that the swing is grooved. It will be found that with a minimum of practice with the sling all the necessary movements and coordination become a matter of routine.

After the down swing has been completed and the ball has been hit, the golfer continues with his follow through whereby the leading side of his body continues turning toward the trailing side and rearwardly. During this turning, the sling continues to monitor the right arm 26 toward the trailing side, so that the golfer executes a smooth follow through and does not abruptly break his swing.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the present invention in golf aids accomplishes the various objects set forth hereinbefore as well as others which are apparent from this specification and the drawings. It is to be understood that the foregoing description and drawings are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention, but rather they are for the purpose of illustration.

I claim:

1. A method of controlling a golfers swing comprising applying an arm band snugly about the upper portion of the golfers trailing arm, connecting an elastomeric cable of substantial extent to the arm band and extending it downwardly across the front of the golfers torso, anchoring the end of the extended cable in the region of the golfers waist and below his leading arm, whereby when the golfer swings the trailing arm will follow the turning of the torso in the direction of the leading arm to control the movement of said trailing arm.

2. A golf swing aid for use by a golfer comprising a flexible arm band of suiiicient extent to encircle the upper portion of the golfers trailing arm, a movable connector joined to said arm band, an extensible cable of slightly elastomeric material attached to said connector and of sufi'lcient length to extend from the arm band across the front of the body of the golfer to a point on the opposite side of the waist of the golfer from the arm to which the device is attached, and an anchoring means for affixing the end of the cable at such waist point of the golfer whereby the trailing arm follows the rotation of the golfers body as it is rotated from the trailing arm towards the leading arm.

3. A golf swing aid for use by a golfer as defined in claim 2 wherein the movable connector is a swivel whereby the cable is permitted to rotate.

4. A golf swing aid for use by a golfer as defined in claim 2 and further including a belt of sufficient extent to encircle the waist of the golfer, said anchor means connected to said belt.

5. A golf swing aid as defined in claim 2 wherein the flexible arm band is of sufficient width to resist rolling and twisting during a golf swing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 245,761 Anderson Aug. 16, 1881 291,233 Shelby Jan. 1, 1884 1,279,924 Smith Sept. 24, 1918 2,093,153 McCarthy Sept. 14, 1937 2,563,533 Knox Aug. 7, 1951 2,773,691 Redfield Dec. 11, 1956 2,808,267 Heaton Oct. 1, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 603,248 Germany 1934 

